inFAMOUS: Firestarter
by WILLSOFUNNY
Summary: Being a Conduit is an amazing feeling. It's like having the world at your fingertips. What isn't great though is having so many people looking to you for guidance and protection. This is what Xander Cross and Ryan Faraday come to learn when their entire world is turned upside down and they have to do their best to take back control of their city. How will things play out for them?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

After the fall of The DUP at the hands of the Conduit hero Delsin Rowe, humans and Conduits lived in relative peace. Of course there were people that used their powers for nefarious purposes. That simply can't be avoided. However, all Conduits were no longer blamed for the actions of those who couldn't responsibly handle their powers.

Most Conduits preferred to live their lives like normal everyday citizens, going to work, picking up groceries. Mundane things like that. Some chose to be heroes and save the innocent and, as mentioned before, some of them were just assholes. Anyway, Conduits are treated fairly now. Well as fair as humanity treats regular humans at least. Let's be honest, either way life is still gonna suck, everywhere you go there's some asshole who thinks he's better than you or wants something that isn't theirs. It's human nature.

But, I'm rambling at this point. This isn't a story about me, the Author, it's about two kids with powers like they could have only dreamed and what they choose to do with said powers. So, let's begin…

 **Our story begins** in the cafeteria of a high school somewhere in America. I'm gonna be honest with you I don't want to name a specific location or city because then I'd have to learn the names of the streets and shit and I don't feel like all that. Call me lazy but that's just how it is. The name of the city, if you must know, is… fuck it, San Federico or some shit. Look you came here for a story and that's what I'm giving you, don't judge me.

… I'll just start over from the beginning.

 **Our story begins** in the cafeteria of a high school in the city of San Federico. Particularly it begins with two students of said school, Xander Cross and Ryan Faraday, whose Conduit abilities have already awoken.

Xander's power is a little confusing, there's no real way to understand exactly what his power is called. He does a whole bunch of shit like, teleportation, telekinesis, enhanced reflexes, agility, mild super strength, and even controls different types of matter like sometimes its electricity or it's fire. It would seem as if he just does what he wants, but that's not true. I'll go deeper into how it all works later.

Yes, I just broke the fourth wall and told you what I'm gonna do. Deal with it.

Ryan's powers are much more reasonable and simple, he's an electrokinetic. He can store and utilize electricity. His powers are similar to Cole Macgrath's but a little more unique. He can of course use shit like electromagnetism to pick stuff up like it were telekinesis, but a few things he can do that Cole couldn't are;

He can control someone's movements by sending electrical signals from his mind to theirs and make their muscles move involuntarily. (It's not exactly controlling them, it's more like he's giving them a muscle spasm.)

He can fly in the same way that Macgrath could glide, except he is actually flying. He creates an electromagnetic field around his body that keeps him in the air indefinitely. (He also uses this power to jump incredibly high and far.)

He can travel through electrical grids by turning into pure electricity.

He can turn into static and go invisible.

He can communicate through radio waves.

The energy coursing through him also allows his mind to think at a rapid speed, making his reaction time faster..

Now, Ryan isn't aware of all of these abilities yet, but I like to explain shit ahead of time every once in awhile. Don't worry he'll use them eventually. Or maybe he'll use them now, I'm telling the story, fuck chronology.

Anyway, here's what's about to happen, I'm gonna describe how they look real fast. Then the dialogue and shit will start. Ok? Cool...

Xander is 5'11 and lean. That means he has some muscle definition but not to the point where he looks like he could eat a bear and fuck two girls at the same time. He's African American and his skin is light brown. Kinda like a caramel brown or something. He's wearing a red hoodie with the sleeves rolled up enough to show his forearms. The hoodie is zipped up halfway, showing the black t-shirt underneath with the word "AWESOME" on it in red lettering. His pants are black joggers, not the sweatpants type, with those stupid zippers on them that aren't even pockets, like why the fuck would you put zippers there if I can't put shit inside?... Anyway, his shoes are white and red and the laces are white.

Figured I should tell you the color of the laces so you could better imagine how they look. You're Welcome…

Ryan is the same height as Xander, give or take a few inches. He's a little more muscular but not that much. He's Caucasian with a nice tan. He's wearing jeans similar to Macgrath's in style and fit but without the Union Jack logo. Their colored dark denim blue faded. His shoes are black sneakers with white soles, made for running and climbing.

I figured I should put some space in between the paragraph. It just ain't look right... Anyway, his shirt is white with slightly darker shoulders and short sleeves. He has a black sling bag on his back with the strap going from right to left. He also wears gloves that are grey with a white center. He styled his outfit very heavily off of Cole Macgrath, who he admires for obvious reasons.

The two friends are sitting at a table in the middle of the busy cafeteria, opting to not eat lunch because school lunch tastes like dick on shit flavored bread.

"Dude I figured it out." Ryan said excitedly to his friend, reaching over and grabbing his shoulder. "We can start recording the stuff we do, put that shit online and boom! Fame and fortune baby, haha!"

Xander grinned in amusement at his friend's enthusiasm. "Bro you really gotta chill with that. We don't have to be famous to save lives man. Besides people already know enough about us to know that we're out there looking over them." Xander said while absent-mindedly channeling electricity from one hand to the other.

"Hey all I'm saying is it would be really sweet to get some big time recognition for all the good we're doing. Yea, maybe the city knows our name, but the whole country could know. Maybe even the whole world." He drained the electricity from in between Xander's hands, earning a roll of the eyes from him before he continued, "Think about it, we'll be in the history books just like Cole and Delsin. We'll be on talk shows and shit, chicks'll be flocking to us like a 50% off sale at Always 21. That's the dream ain't it?" He reclined black with a sigh, his hands behind his head using electromagnetism to keep himself upright.

"You can record all you want, I'm not in it for the fame." Xander replied nobly.

"Yo X-Man! Come here for a second!" One of the other students called from across the room at Xander. He looked toward the source of the voice and saw that it was TJ Merlin who called him. TJ was one of the jocks of the school, but he's not a dick like you see in all the movies and stuff, he's a pretty chill dude.

Bursting into a cloud of smoke and ash, Xander dashed over the the teen's table. "What's up T?" Xander asked placing his hands on the table.

"I'm having another party this weekend, you should come. I would invite Sparky but I already know he'll be there regardless. You on the other hand? You never show up." TJ said, looking him in the eye as if to ask why.

Xander rubbed the back of his neck and looked away from the teen. "I'm just busy I guess. Plus you know me, I'm not really the party type of guy." He said giving air quotes when he said the word "party." His words were entirely true. He was always out and about looking for people to help so he didn't really have time to go to parties. And even if he wasn't saving people he probably still wouldn't go. Xander Cross is the kind of guy who likes to just sit back with a few friends a play some games or watch movies. He prefers simplicity and familiarity. There are too many unknowns at those parties and regardless of how often he saved people, he still didn't like meeting new people.

"I get it man, you're a hero. 'Justice never sleeps' and all that. But sometimes you gotta wind down and have some fun. Enjoy the little things y'know? Look, I'm only asking cause I know one person who would love it if you showed up." TJ said, leaving the sentence open as he looked across the cafeteria. Xander followed his eyes to where he saw a table full of teens laughing and eating, but his eyes locked onto one person in particular. A girl with long brunette hair tied into a ponytail. Eyes so bright and brown and her smile. Dear god, her smile. It was like God himself came down every morning and personally picked her teeth clean of anything that might even slightly dull the brightness. Even from this far away her beauty was impossible to ignore.

Xander realized he had been staring for quite some time and quickly turned around, his cheeks a light shade of red. "I'm pretty sure it won't matter to her if I show up or not." He said, tapping his thumb against each finger on his left hand channeling and dispersing electricity into each tip. It was a fidget that he always did when he was nervous or, in this case, embarrased.

TJ's body shook with laughter at the look on Xander's face. "Dude she is head over heels for you. I should know, she's my sister. Listen, there aren't a lot of guys I would trust with my sister. You know that. But you? You're a good man X, and I can tell by the way you look at her that you'll treat her right." He went silent for a few moments to see if Xander would say anything. When he didn't he sighed, and continued. "Just give it some thought ok? I guarantee you that she's just waiting for you to make the first move. She's just as shy as you when it comes to this shit. Come to the party man, you won't regret it." He stuck his fist out for a pound, which Xander returned and then turned around and headed back to his table.

He decided to simply walk back so he could think about what TJ said. As he walked he snuck glances at the girl. She was smiling and laughing with her friends, lighting up the whole room every time she opened her mouth. She looked over at him and for a split second they made eye contact before Xander averted his eyes, mentally smacking himself for getting caught. 'Nice going X, now you look like a creep.' He teleported back to his table and sat down across from Ryan who was busy making two tiny electric stick figures fight to the death.

"So what was that about?" Ryan asked once he sat down, never taking his eyes off the fight. As if he didn't already know which stick figure would win since he was the one controlling them.

"TJ's throwing another party on Saturday and he invited me. Says Melody is really hoping I'll show up. I just don't know man, like what if I fuck it up somehow? What if it turns we have zero shit in common and then she just loses all interest." He clutched the back of his head with both hands and put his forehead on the table in distress. "Fuck man! What do I do?" He asked his friend, and received no answer. He looked back up to see that he was still staring at the fighting stick figures. Grunting in annoyance, he constructed his own electric stick figure and promptly ended the fight with two electric arrows to their heads. Over top the fight the word "WINNER!" appeared.

Ryan snap out of his trance and looked at his friend in surprise. "Aww dude it was just getting good." He whined slumping down dejectedly.

"I'm trying to ask you for advice and all you care about is a fight between two stick people that you're controlling?!" He yelled in frustration.

"Ahh, y'see the trick is to forget that you're controlling it cause then it's like-"

"Ryan!" Xander yelled cutting him off. "I don't give a shit! What should I do about the party man!?"

Ryan seemed lost in thought as he tried to remember what party his friend was talking about. "Oooh right, the party… Yea you should definitely go. It's gonna be tops fuckin bloopy. Listen, I like being a hero just as much as the next superpowered asshole, but shit man, you can't let that get in the way of your social life." He said lifting a quarter in the air with electromagnetism and rolling it around.

Xander sighed in defeat, realizing that both Ryan and TJ were totally right. He has to relax at some point. Even if a party filled with a bunch of people wasn't exactly his idea of relaxing. "Fine, I'll go to the party."

"Sweet cause here comes Melody, and I'm sure she's about to ask you the same question." He said with a devilish smile.

Xander looked up and sure enough, she was making her way over to their table. Her black jeans clung tightly to her body showing off her slender frame. Melody might be a rather petite girl but by no means was she pencil thin. She got them hips that don't quit and an ass to match. Her blue t-shirt was cut low exposing just enough cleavage to get your imagination going and your heartbeat racing. As she walked over to them Xander's mind went into hyper drive and the world around him seemed to slow down. "Shit what do I do?" He asked Ryan who was the only other person who he could actually speak to at this speed, since they both have enhanced perception.

"Just be cool dude, don't freak out, don't start rambling just go with the flow. Break the ice by telling her she looks nice and give her one of those smooth guy smiles that I know you practice in the mirror." He advised his friend who gave him a look of gratitude, before he realized that he knew about his pep talks with his mirror.

"How did you-" He started but was cut off.

"Later. Focus."

The world went back to normal as they stopped focusing and Melody had reached the table. "Hey Xander. Hey Ryan." She said, in that sweet voice that was like the most beautiful song Xander had ever heard.

"What's crackin Mel?" Ryan said as if he wasn't talking to the most perfect girl in the world. At least that's what she was in Xander's world anyway.

"Oh nothing much…" She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear as she looked at the ground awkwardly.

Ryan got the hint and smoothly made up some excuse to leave. "Oh hey look at that my uh… thing is um… yea I should probably go deal with that. Bye." He said with a wide grin and disappeared into static.

A few moments of silence transpired before Xander attempted to break the ice by saying, "I like your shirt, it uh… suits you." He kept a friendly smile on the outside but inside he put a gun to his head a blew his brains out.

She smiled warmly at the compliment. "Oh uh, thanks it's one of my favorites… So, I saw you talking to my brother and I was wondering… if he... y'know invited you to the party?"

"Yea he told me about it. I think I can make time for it." He said trying to sound relaxed like it wasn't that big of a deal.

The smile on her face widened and her eyes sparkled in excitement. "Really?! I-I mean that's-uh that's great. I was hoping you'd be there. N-not for me, but y'know just because you're always saving people and stuff it seems like you don't take any time to just enjoy life." She stuttered her cheeks turning a light shade of crimson. "But, I'll uh… I'll see you on Saturday right?"

"Definitely." Xander confirmed with a smile. She smiled back and then awkwardly stepped backwards before turning around and walking back to her friends. Once she was gone Xander released a breath he didn't know he was holding and let his face meet the table, thankful for his Conduit resiliency allowing him to take the hit with barely any pain.

"Dude nice job!" He heard from very close by, making him jump in surprise and bang his knees under the table.

"What the Fuck? Ryan get out my phone." He scolded, pulling the device out of his pocket. A line of electricity shot out of the phone and formed into the shape of the boy.

He was smiling widely just like he always does. It's a miracle his face hasn't broken off. "Heh, sorry. I couldn't resist. But seriously, you saw the way she was blushing and shit? She's all yours man, all you gotta do it go for it."

"Yea I get it I just-" Xander started but was cut off by a loud voice over the intercom.

" _Xander Cross and Ryan Faraday please report to the principal's office. Xander Cross and Ryan Faraday to the principal's office."_ The voice said. It was the principal obviously. All eyes in the cafeteria went straight to their table, they all knew what this meant. Something Conduit related was going down.

"Shit. What now?" Xander said as he looked around at the people staring at them.

"Let's find out amigo." Ryan said before disappearing into a trail of electricity and entering into the lights. Xander followed suit and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Both teens headed toward the principal's office.

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **The principal's office** was just like any stereotypical principal's office. A big ass desk, three chairs in front, the name plaque on top of the desk. All that shit was there just like you expect it. The principal himself looked like a stereotypical principal honestly, old dude, graying hair, stupid mustache. He looked like the kind of dick that would sit behind a desk and run a school, trying to tell all the kids to eat their vegetables and do their homework… fucking principals.

...Anyway, the heroes arrived at the principal's office almost simultaneously. Xander obviously made it first because teleportation is instantaneous.

"What's the situation Frank?" Ryan asked after he reformed in front of the desk.

"That's Mr. Rosenberg to you Faraday. But that's beside the point." He pointed to the television behind him that was currently on the news channel. There was live footage of an ongoing bank heist downtown. There were clear signs of a Conduit presence judging by the amount of flaming cars and dead bodies on the scene. The police and SWAT teams were doing their best to hold them back but they would only last so long. They needed to fight Conduits with Conduits. That's where they come in.

"Any word on their exact powers?" Xander asked, hoping to get some advantage over them before heading in.

"There are two Conduits on site. Male and female. The male controls wind or air and the female attacks with sound waves and vibrations. Get over there a take them down!" He yelled, like an asshole. Fucking principals…

"Yea, we got it." Xander said, waving him off. He grabbed Ryan's shoulder and teleported them both out of the building.

They reappeared overlooking the battlefield from a nearby rooftop. Down below there were shouts and screams as the Conduits fought off the police. The aerokinetic was running through the area throwing huge gusts of wind that toppled over vehicles and slammed officers into walls. The acoustokinetic female had her hands on the ground sending powerful vibrations through the earth causing the ground to shake and crack. The officers were putting up a valiant effort, they set up large force fields that were designed to hold Conduits in a specific area. The bank was on the corner of an intersection. The Conduit Fields were set up between each street turning the area into one big killbox.

Xander watched the destruction unfold and quickly realized that the Air guy was creating a distraction so that the girl could shake the force fields loose allowing them to escape. "We gotta stop her fast. She's trying to shake the force fields loose."

"Let's go save the day." Ryan said before super jumping into the air with a burst of electricity and gliding forward until he was above the area. He cocked back an electrically charged fist and Thunder Dropped to the ground, dispersing electricity across the earth. He looked up into the eyes of his combatants and gave a cocky grin.

A moment later Xander lands beside him with a burst of fire. "So… we doing this the easy way or the hard way?" Ryan said smugly. The two would be bank robbers share a look at each other before they both lashed out with a blast from their respective powers. The two heroes dashed to the side out of the way and ran around them throwing fireballs and lightning bolts respectively as the other conduits did their best to dodge and return fire.

"Hard way it is then." Xander said, front flipping over an incoming shock wave from the girl. He dashed backwards in midair back to his previous spot and continued running in the same direction, confusing the girl who shot a sound wave at the spot she thought he would be at. Xander threw a smoke grenade at her feet that exploded, surrounding her in a cloud of sulphur. She coughed violently from inhaling the smoke and threw her hands downward shooting into the sky using the soundwaves. She opened her mouth and screamed, sending a blast toward Xander that knocked him off his feet. He rolled skillfully backwards onto his feet and returned fire with quick bursts of electricity. The girl skillfully dodged out of the way in the air and continued to assault his ears with her high pitched screech. He saw a ventilation pipe on the wall of a building that led to the roof and dashed into it. He burst out of the vent on the roof, flying high in the air and dashed toward the hovering girl, his fist covered in flames. He hit her hard in the face, something he was not proud of doing, and she fell back down to the earth. He performed a Comet Drop on her position and was sent flying through the air once again.

Meanwhile, Ryan and the Air Conduit were engaged in a similar song and dance. Ryan was using the hood of a police car to glide around the area like a Conduit hoverboard. Blue lightning shot from his hands as he did his darndest to land a hit on the thief, but he kept evading each strike by turning his body into air causing the lightning to pass harmlessly through him. Ryan was getting increasingly more frustrated as the Conduit continued to mock him with his tactics. His frustration only grew when a strong gust of wind sent him flying off of his makeshift hoverboard and crashing into the side of a police car. 'This is useless, I can't hit him.' He thought to himself as he went on the defensive, dodging wind blasts as they came. 'How do I hit somebody that can turn into thin air?' He racked his brain trying to come up with a solution. After a few more seconds of dip, duck, dive, dodge and duck the answer came to him. He rolled out of the way of another blast and then shot 3 lightning rockets at his combatant, who did exactly as expected and let them pass right through his body. Ryan then shot a single bolt at the ground in front of the Conduit, making him laugh at his seemingly missed shot. He failed to notice that the rockets had changed course and were now headed back to the spot that Ryan struck. The rockets slammed into the air bender one after the other, having caught him completely off guard. The final rocket exploded and suspended him in the air with a glow of blue light. Ryan used the small window of opportunity to strike him with 4 lightning bolts, causing the Conduit to jerk slightly as the electricity coursed through him.

When the anti-gravitational effects of the final rocket wore off the air bender dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, his clothes smoking. Ryan rushed forward hoping to subdue the Conduit as soon as possible but as soon as he got close enough the man threw his hands out and Ryan was sent flying high into the air, flailing his arms. The bank robber shot up into the air beside him and sent another strong blast into his chest ironically knocking the wind out of him and sending him rocketing back towards the concrete. He braced for impact but nothing happened he looked back to see that Xander had caught him with an electromagnetic pulse and stopped his descent. "Don't worry bro, I gotcha." He said as he lowered him to the ground.

"Nice catch. How's your fight going?" Ryan asked his friend.

"Oh y'know same old same old. I'm gonna have the worst fucking headache by the time this is all over." The two heroes looked ahead at their opponents who were trying to regroup during the brief moment of respite. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Xander asked his partner who grinned in understanding. "Time for a light show?" He asked even though he knew the answer.

Xander crouched down low, fire circling around him and then he exploded up into the sky in the shape of three spinning fireballs. At the height of his jump the three fireballs came together and formed into his body. He flipped upside down and his entire body burst into flames as he shot back towards the ground like a meteor.

Back on the ground, Ryan lifted his hands to the sky, arms crackling with electricity, and the sound of thunder clapping echoed through the air as Ryan called down a massive bolt of lightning that struck Xander during his fall, his body absorbing the continuous stream of energy, causing his body to crackle with fire and electricity. When Xander connected with the ground his body burst into a cloud of smoke and lightning that tore across the ground sending vehicles, mailboxes, street lamps and other things flying, but more importantly the two Conduit bank robbers were hit hard, crashing through the wall of the bank they were just robbing and were knocked unconscious.

Embers of smoke and ash swirled around the detonation spot of the explosion and formed into the shape of Xander, who had a victorious grin on his face. "Yea baby! Gotta love the light show!" Ryan whooped throwing an electrified fist in the air.

"Yea yea. C'mon let's make sure everything's settled here and then we gotta get back to class." They went through the newly created hole in the building to collect the two Conduits. There they were, just laying unconscious. All they had to do was haul them out so that the local law enforcement could take care of them.

Now you're probably expecting me to tell you that some crazy shit popped off and they disappeared or some big dude came crashing through the ceiling and declared war against them. Well guess what? That's not what happened. They dragged them outside the cops, clamped down the anti-Conduit cuffs on them and took them away. But, don't you worry your pretty little head about it, we'll get to the part about the main bad guy eventually. "Patience is a virtue" and all that jazz.

Anyway, after that was taken care of they made their way back to school. They couldn't teleport there like before because Xander's long range teleportation was on the fritz. That was a power that gave him trouble quite often so he tried not to use it to much. He didn't wanna end up stuck in a wall or something. Ryan was sliding across the power lines in the city like a man sized train while Xander was dashing across the rooftops with his "Smoke Dash" ability.

Yes I did call it "Smoke Dash" just like in the game. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

They made it back to the school in only about 10 minutes, not because it was close but just because they were fast. They used their powers to navigate their way through the halls and to their next class. They opened the door and the classroom erupted in applause, having witnessed the entire event on the news. It was History class after all so why the hell not. Xander humbly accepted the praise with a smile and made his way to his seat, not really wanting all of the attention. Ryan on the other hand was showing off, juggling two balls of electricity in his hands as the crowd cheered him on. Xander just smirked at his friends cocky nature. You would expect someone like Ryan to abuse their powers. To use them for their own selfish needs. But Ryan was absolutely 100% a hero. Sure he liked to have the spotlight and wanted fame but he never hesitated to help people in need, regardless of if there were people watching or not.

"Ok, everyone settle down. Boys, that was good work out there, glad you made it back safely." Their teacher Mr. Edmund said. White dude with slicked back hair and graying sides. Trimmed goatee and shit. Real handsome fella.

There you go, that's his description. Your welcome.

"Eh, all in a day's work Mr. E, you know how it is." Ryan said nonchalantly as he took his seat next to Xander.

"Y'know I think that in light of recent events now would be a good time to go over some Conduit history. Who can tell me the date of the 'Empire Event.'" Mr. Edmund asked the class and a few hands shot up.

The voices of students and teacher faded away into the back of his mind as Xander began to think about this Saturday. To say he was nervous was a major understatement. He was shitting bricks at this point, some many possibilities were crossing through his mind. So many ways that things could go wrong and the very few ways that they could go right. There was just no way a girl like Melody would go for someone like him, regardless of him being a superhero and stuff. The second they started really speaking she'd realize just how boring he really is and she'd leave and never speak to him again, and then he'd die, literally fucking die on the spot. And it wouldn't even be a cool kind of die, it would just as boring as his personality.

'No,' Xander thought to himself. 'No, I can do this, I just gotta talk to her right? Just relax and be myself. Everything else will come naturally.' His face took on a look of determination as he made his decision final. He was going to that party and he was going to have fun. No matter what.

"X? Bro snap out of it, it's time to leave." Ryan said snapping his fingers in front of Xander's face. He looked up to see students packing up their bags and leaving the classroom. Xander stood to his feet and followed his friend out of the room. "Aight, school's out time to head home and get ready for a night of crime fighting." Patting his friend of the back, Ryan took off down the hall towards the window at the end, Xander following behind him as he morphed into a line of electricity and slipped through the small crack in the window. Xander did the same as a cloud of smoke and they used their respective powers to glide through the air to a nearby rooftop. "Race ya back." Ryan challenged before he ran ahead parkouring his way across the rooftops. Xander caught up quickly and they raced neck and neck towards their house.

Ryan tapped his phone and speed dialed Xander so he could speak to him from across the rooftops. "Y'know," He started, he corkscrewed over a pipe on the roof before continuing, "it's really cool that they let us leave school when there's a big enough crime going on. If we tried to be all secretive and shit like you wanted, we'd have to just sit by and let people get hurt."

Xander leapt over a 20 foot gap between two roofs before replying with, "All I was saying is that being a public figure might not be a good idea. What if the cops and stuff didn't support what we were doing. We're vigilantes Ryan, that's illegal." He vaulted over a fence that was in his way and pushed off it onto a higher part of the roof and ran onward.

"Vigilante, smigilante. We're heroes man that's all they really care about. As long as we aren't killing anybody they don't have a reason not to like us." Ryan hopped off his roof onto a power line and grinded across it to the other side of the street before leaping off and latching onto the wall and climbing back on top.

"Yea I guess you're right."

The two jumped from the roofs they were traversing after coming to a gap they couldn't jump across. Their enhanced durability making the fall completely painless. They continued to race through the streets, some people cheering them on as they passed or trying to snap a pick. They waved and smiled when they could and continued on, vaulting and flipping over any obstructions in their path. After a few more minutes they were walking through the door of their house.

Aight, time for a little backstory. Xander is an orphan. Never knew his parents, doesn't want to. His parents left him on the doorsteps of an orphanage when he was barely a month, with a note that told his name and his birthday. Along with the note was a letter to him that read, "We're sorry to leave you like this. Please understand that it is for the best and this means in no way that we don't love you. You have an incredible destiny waiting for you, Xander. You will go on to do great things for this world and our kind. But for you to accomplish we can't be apart of your life, at least not now. We're so very sorry." When he read the note he felt confused and, more importantly, angry. He didn't care if he had some sort of predestined fate, that doesn't give them the right to just toss him aside. And they had the audacity to claim that they "loved" him, what kind of bullshit is that? If they loved him so much then they would have been there for him no matter what they knew was or wasn't going to happen. From that day on Xander decided that his parents were dead. They had died a long time ago and he had no desire to learn anything about them.

Xander was adopted by Ryan's parents when he was 2 years old and they treated him like he wasn't any different than their own son. Of course Xander and Ryan became the best of friends from that day on. They were the same age, Xander is actually a few months older, and they both were learning about the world around them at the same time. Xander couldn't have asked for a better family and Ryan couldn't have asked for a better brother.

There you go, backstory. You're welcome…

They walked through the door of their house and the oh so sweet aroma of Apple Pie smacked them in the face like a runaway truck. "Ahh, home sweet home." Ryan sighed with a smile, heading straight for the kitchen in the back of the house. Their house was pretty nice. When you walked through the door the first room to see was the living room.

Let's be honest, ain't that how every house is? Seriously, think about that. I'm sure that with every house you've ever been in the first room you see is the living room.

The walls of the living were painted white and on the right side there hung family pictures and shit, y'know holidays and birthdays. Shit like that. Underneath the pictures was a nice red couch.

I would tell you the material but I honestly can't think of the name right now… it's fuckin uhh… shit, it's some kinda cloth or whatever. It's soft Ok? Get off my ass.

In front of the stupid couch was an equally stupid rectangular coffee table, with more pictures and shit on top. There wasn't even any room for a coffee mug so I guess it's not really a coffee table huh? It's just a fuckin stupid table. False advertising assholes.

In front of the couch was a big flat screen 4K t.v. sitting atop a table with doors at the bottom. A cabinet? Yea I think that's a cabinet. Fuck it, you know what I'm talking about. Along with the television was a PlayStation 4. Behind the television was a set of stairs leading to the next second floor.

I think that's everything… Walls. Check. Couch. Check. Table. Check… yea that's everything. If I left something out then just forget everything I said and picture your own living room. That's what I do.

The next room in the house was the dining room, separated from the first room by an arch way. The dining room is much simpler than the living room, thank Fuck. Yes, Fuck is a person. His name is Fuck Off and he doesn't appreciate you questioning me.

The dining room is painted pink and the only thing on the wall is a clock, because who needs a bunch of shit on the walls when your face is too busy stuck to a plate to see anything. The dinner table is oval shaped and made of glass with four chairs around it.

Boom! Dining Room done!

Finally, the kitchen. Y'know what? Fuck it. The kitchen looks just like your kitchen. See ain't it easier to just picture shit you already recognize instead of trying to learn new shit. Let's get on with the fucking story.

"Hello, mother." Ryan said in a sing song voice giving her a kiss on the cheek and opening the fridge.

"Welcome home boys. How was school? Other than the part where you saved the day." She said as she smoothly turned around and grabbed the plate of chicken from Ryan's hands and placed it back in the fridge with one quick spin as if it was something she did often. Ryan frowned in disappointment at having lost his appetizer and went and sat on the counter next to the sink where his mother was washing dishes.

Xander chuckled at the scene before answering with, "It was ok I guess, nothing special."

"Xander got invited to a party by Melody." Ryan blurted out quickly, dodging a small fireball that was aimed for his face. The smile on his face was pure evil.

Their mom… Wait. I didn't describe her did I? Shit. Ugh, their mom is blonde and pretty. Happy now? Of course you aren't, what else do you need? She's short and slim, her hair is hanging loose and comes down to in between her shoulder blades. She's wearing… I don't fuckin know, nurse scrubs. Why the hell not.

Anyway… their mom froze when she heard the news, the water from the faucet still running. Out of nowhere an ear piercing screech came from nowhere and in seconds her arms were wrapped around Xander's waist as she hugged the life out of him.

"Ack. Mom, air please." He reminded her as she crushed the wind out of him. Meanwhile Ryan was dying of laughter.

"Oooh I'm so happy for you! I told you she liked you sweetheart. You're going right?" She asked, releasing him from the death grip and looking up at him with hopeful eyes.

"Yea," He grunted, "I mean what's the worse that could happen right?" He said stretching his back out with a loud pop.

"Oh, this is gonna be so wonderful. You two are totally gonna get married some day." She said giddily, clapping her hands and bouncing on her toes.

"Married!? Jesus mom, I haven't even gone on a date with her yet and you're talking about marriage." 'The idea has crossed my mind though' he thought.

"I knew you two were made for each other the second I saw you talking at the report card conferences. I said 'Those two are gonna be the best couple ever,' didn't I Ryan?"

"Ya sure did momma bear. You truly are the wisest." He replied, having calmed down somewhat from his near death experience.

"I can't understand why he thought this wouldn't happen."

"Because she's waay out of my league-"

"-I love that song-" Ryan cut in from the background.

"- there's no way a girl like that would go for me. But… I guess I was wrong." He said.

"What do you mean 'out of your league?' You've got everything a girl needs. You're smart, you're handsome, you've got a heart of gold and you never hesitate to help someone in need. If you ask me every girl in that school should be after you." She said marking off each point on her fingers.

"Well they would be after him if it wasn't for the fact that I'm way cooler." Ryan said with a smug grin. He wasn't wrong though, most of the girls tended to flock toward him. Probably because of his magnetic personality. Haha see what I did there? "Magnetic" because he's… electric and… Well I thought it was funny anyway.

"Oh sweetie yes you are so very cool. That's why you're single." She said in a motherly tone so solid the sarcasm was almost impossible to pick up on.

"Exactly." He said throwing his hands up, as if that was what he had been waiting to hear his whole life. "They just can't handle my awesomeness." He hopped off the counter and stood with heroic posture. Chest poked out, fists on his hips and chin up high.

"Anyway," Xander cut in. "We gotta get ready to go on patrol. We'll be back a little later. Love you." He said, kissed her on the cheek then headed for the door.

"See ya later mom." Ryan kissed her on the cheek as well and followed Xander out.

"Alright, be safe… y'know relatively speaking of course." She called after them, knowing full well it was redundant to ask that of them.

For the next few hours they ran through the city stopping whatever crimes they could and taking pictures with fans, y'know the usual stuff. Now they were sitting on the edge of a tall building Downtown. Well at least one of them was sitting anyway. The sun was setting and the lights of the city were shining bright, making the view from above that much more breathtaking.

"Dude, we need some kind of melee weapon. What are we gonna do when the bad guys get too close to shoot? I mean I guess we could just punch em, but that's too basic. We gotta spice it up." Ryan said as he paced back and forth, not because of stress but simply because he's just too energetic to sit still and enjoy the view. He had been considering finding something to use as a weapon for quite sometime. He just hadn't gotten around to it as of yet. "I'm thinking maybe an electric shotgun axe so I can use it to fight and shoot. That would look so badass!" He said pretending to swing his imaginary weapon around, making sound effects.

Xander thought about what his brother said and he couldn't help but agree with him. It would definitely help to have a weapon with which to fight up close and personal. And sure it'd be pretty badass too. "Y'know what man, you're right. I say we go and find something, hell maybe someone'll give us one since we're heroes and stuff." He stood to his feet and made ready to jump from the building. "We'll split up. Turn on the tracker on your phone so we can find each other fast in case some shit goes down." Xander pulled his hood over his head and did a swandive off the roof. The wind howled in his ears as he rushed towards the ground, at the last second he front flipped and landed on his feet in a crouched position before he took off into the night in search of a weapon to add to his arsenal.

Ryan, not to be outdone, ran to the other side of the roof and did a shooting star press off the edge. Rather than land on the ground he used his Static Thrusters to glide through the air and land on the power lines and grinded his way through the city.

Hmm… let's see, who should we focus on first? I think Ryan would be a good start, he's kinda been in the background don't ya think? Ok, Ryan it is.

As he traversed the power lines of the city, Ryan spotted a "Cole McG's Electronics store." Figuring that was as good a place as any to start looking, he hopped of the power line and went inside.

The store was empty except for the store clerk behind the counter. He looked fairly, maybe 19 or 20 years old. His face looked like an unsolved connect the dots puzzle with how much acne was covering it. His hair was slicked back with far too much grease, giving it a very shiny appearance and he wore thick glasses over his blue eyes.

Yea he was your typical computer-nerd, I coulda done something more original but fuck it, it's not like he'll show up again in the story any time soon... Or maybe he will… I haven't decided yet.

"Welcome to Cole McG's, my name is Aaron how may I- Holy shit, you're Ryan Faraday! THE Ryan Faraday. What are you doing here!?" He asked, totally fanboying out.

Ryan just smiled his smug smile and walked over to the counter. "Nice to meet ya Aaron. Listen, I don't know if you guys are into this kinda thing, but I'm looking for something to help me take down the bad guys y'know? Something that hits hard and looks good. You think you could help me?" Honestly, he wasn't really expecting to find what he was looking for in here. After all, it was an electronics store, they sold computers and cellphones, normal shit like that, not superhero weapons.

So imagine his surprise when Aaron said, "Actually, I might have just the thing. If you'll just follow me." He gestured as he walked toward a door in the back of the store.

Ha, that rhymed.

He opened it and inside was a room filled with boxes and electronic devices wrapped in bubble wrap. Ryan couldn't help but pick up a spare sheet and start popping the bubbles. They continued on through the back room until they reached a black container all the way in the back. "This here is just something I've been tinkering with. It was supposed to just be something for my cosplay costume but I got a little carried away. I call it 'The Lightning Bat.'" He said in a voice like he was presenting the Crown Jewels of England.

'That name sucks' Ryan thought. 'But hot damn if don't look fucking sweet.' His eyes widened as he took in the sight of the weapon. At first glance it looked like a regular baseball bat, but upon closer inspection it was so much more. It was made of steel with a black grip. At the end of the grip where it turns into the actual bat part…

The head?

… there's a battery pack with wires sticking out that travel all the way to the top of the bat. It looks pretty crude but when Ryan picked it up and put some power into it, the entire thing lit up like a Christmas tree, blue electricity dancing across it. He pointed it forward and the top opened up and a metal rod poked out. On a hunch Ryan channeled energy into his hand like he would when he shot lightning from his palms, and what do ya know, an arc of electricity shot from the end and left a black scorch mark on the wall.

That would be hard for Aaron to explain to his boss.

Ryan stopped charging the weapon and the electricity dissipated from the surface and the top closed back up. Ryan looked the weapon over in his hands at a complete loss for words. It was the most badass thing he could have ever hoped for. "Aaron. You. Are. AMAZING! This is exactly what I was looking for. You're a godsend my man." Ryan said clapping the man on the back as if he wasn't the elder of the two.

"I'm glad you like it. I would ask you to pay for it, but since we don't actually sell weapons, I guess you can just take it. It's not like it'll be of any use sitting back here." Aaron said gesturing to the crowded storage room.

"I appreciate it. You just helped me help make this city just a little bit safer. I won't forget this buddy, truly." Ryan saluted the man, strapped The Lightning Bat to his bag and left the building. "Alright, time to put this puppy to the test." He grinned wickedly.

 **Fast Forward 10mins**

Ryan comes across a pack of drug dealers and their stash. They're just standing there in front of some random store, waving their guns around and shit, scaring people half to death. So, he decides to do something about it.

If you're wondering why that description seems a little lackluster, it's because I wanna get to the action. So, let's do that.

"Hey fellas?" Ryan calls out to them. "Didn't ya get the memo? Drugs are illegal, dickheads."

Their response is to fire at him. Ryan pulls the bat off his back and it sparks to life, crackling with blue electricity. He darts ahead holding up a Polarity wall to block the incoming projectiles as he pushes forward. When he gets up to the closest thug he swings underhand at his midsection. The thug it's knocked off his feet and into the air a few feet and comes down hard on his back, unconscious. Ryan points the tip of the bat at another thug to his right and the bolt of lightning that fires out slams the man into the wall. Bullets continue to whiz by him as he zigs through the dealers. He twists over the head of one and strikes him in the back, causing him to stumble forward, Ryan trips the man into the ground and subdues him with Arc Restraints. Ryan shoots, blasts, and clobbers his way through the rest of the drug dealers like it were nothing. Once the dust has settled he goes over to their stash of drugs and swings his bat into it, crushing and frying the contents.

"I think I found my soul mate." He says as he kisses the tip of the bat and returns it to it's holster. "I wonder how X is doing on his side of things." He says almost as if the author of the story made him say it so he had a nice segway to check up on Xander.

 **Back With Xander**

Xander stepped back and took a look at the finished product. It was simple yet complex. Made out of pipes and nuts and bolts, this hammer would definitely serve it's purpose. The body was made out of a steel pipe at least 2 feet in length, at the base was an Acorn nut, a high crown type of cap nut, that acted as a grip so that it wouldn't fly out his hands when he swung it. At the other end was a Tee pipe that connected with the body in the middle and had two Cap nuts on the other ends that acted as the hammer heads.

He lifted his weapon and it erupted in flames, giving it a pointed appearance on the heads. He took a few practice swings before switching to electricity and channeling it into the weapon. The electricity crackled all across the weapon making almost seem alive in a way. He swung it into the ground and a shockwave rippled across the ground shattering the table he was previously working on.

"Haha, yea. Yeah this'll do just fine." He said, excited to test it out. "Where the hell am I gonna put it though?" He didn't carry around a bag like Ryan did, so he had nowhere to holster his hammer. "Hmm… maybe if I…" He trailed off. He focused on a his back and set up an electromagnetic field, before placing the hammer on his back. The steel hammer stuck to his back like a refrigerator magnet and didn't fall off. "This'll work for now, but it might get tricky having to constantly focus on keeping it their… who am I talking to?" He said aloud, realizing that there was no point speaking his words when there was no one around.

He ignores the thought and leaves the abandoned warehouse he was in. He starts running through the city hoping to find someone who needs help so he can get in some practice with his hammer.

It would be really unexpected if I said he just didn't find anybody so he met back up with Ryan. Nah, of course he found somebody.

There were three guys in a back alley harassing some poor couple, trying to rob them. Xander dropped from the roof he was on putting power into his fall to create loud shockwave that caught the attention of the three guys, getting them to turn around. The scared couple looked at him with hope on their eyes. "Get outta here, I'll take care of these guys." He said to the couple and they ran away, the guy keeping his girlfriend in front of him like a gentleman.

That definitely earned him some brownie points.

"So, you guys ready?" Xander asked, pulling the hammer off his back, channeling fire into it and preparing to fight. He wasn't expecting the three guys to charge at him, about to fight with their bare hands. He sidestepped the first thug and tripped him with his hammer, before tilting backwards out of the way of a rather fast looking punch from the second and judo flipping him over his shoulder. The third one managed to hit him in the side with a body shot and he went soaring across the lot and into the wall on the other side. Xander, who was not expecting that shit to happen, staggered to his feet dazed by the man's raw strength. "Alright that one's free. The next one is gonna cost ya." He gathered his wits and Smoke Dashed back at the man, swinging his hammer overhead. The guy backed out the way and the weapon slammed into the ground with a burst of fire and knocked him off his feet. The thug who got tripped earlier came back for more, punching Xander across the right cheek. Xander barely felt it, which he was relieved by. Glad that they weren't all super strong. He backhanded him with a flaming fist, and broke his nose making him clutch his face in pain and fall to the ground. Xander wasted no time in subduing him before he could get back up. The guy he flipped at the start came from nowhere and almost hit him with a roundhouse kick but Xander dodged at the last second at swung his hammer at his other leg making him drop to the ground where he got kicked with an electric foot in the stomach and slid across the ground, knocked out cold.

'Now for the big guy.' Xander thought as he looked toward the man in question. He was standing by waiting for his friends to be dealt with first, he scowled as he locked eyes with Xander. Both men sized each other up, circling around, waiting for the other to make a move. That move came when the big guy charged forward ready to tackle Xander to the ground, but Xander cartwheel flipped over his him and dropkicked him the back of the head. Landing on his feet, Xander charged back at the man, hammer at the ready and got yanked off his feet when the man reached low and grabbed his ankle, dangling him upside down. He threw him into the wall of a building and then tackled him through it, crashing through two walls before they come out onto the street on the other side. Xander stood shakily back onto his feet, and once again held his hammer at the ready, not planning on backing down for second.

The big guy roared in anger and charged towards Xander once again, but this time he charged back, lightning trailing behind him. Their shoulders met in the middle and the big guy was sent flying back with an Alpha Blast. He rolled across the ground and scrambled back to his feet, surprised at losing the test of strength. Xander just stood there blank faced and solid as a rock, not even surprised at the feat he just accomplished. Big dude looked around and saw a car to his left and picked it up,chucking it at his opponent. Xander jumped into the air and swatted the car aside before chucking his hammer at the man, hitting him in the chest, making him slide back a few feet. He held his hand out and magnetically pulled the hammer back to him before he shot a salvo of Fire Rockets at his enemy. Big stood his ground as the rockets slammed into him one after the other. He almost made it threw the onslaught but couldn't hold up against the last rocket that finally managed to knock him off his feet and into a wall, cracking it.

He fell to a knee and looked up in time to see Xander dash toward him, hammer swinging, and uppercut him in the chin. That was the last thing he saw as he blacked out on impact.

Xander magnetically placed his weapon on his back and climbed onto the roof of the building that the big guy landed on. He placed a finger to his throat and sighed in relief at finding that he still had a pulse. He used fire and electricity to restrain him, not wanting to take any chances, and left the area to go find his brother.

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

Xander followed the tracker on his phone to his brother's location, where he found him in a back alley parking lot, circled by buildings, taking practice swings with his new weapon.

"Ryan." Xander called to him, getting his attention.

Ryan paused mid swing at the sound of his name being called and looked back to see his brother. "Oh, what's up X? You like my new toy?" He said, holding it out for him to see. Xander's eyes widened at the sight of it. 'How the hell did he find something so high-tech?' He asked internally. The weapon almost made him feel self conscious about his own weapon but he brushed the feeling aside, proud of what he accomplished with his own ingenuity.

"Damn bro, that's some high tech stuff you got there. Where'd you find it?"

"At a Cole McG's. The guy working there said he made it for a cosplay or whatever but never got to use it. Check this out." Ryan said, before pointing his bat ahead, the conductor inside popped out, and fired a Magnum Bolt from the tip and burned a hole through a dumpster.

"Haha, holy hell that's awesome!" Xander said gawking at the hole in the dumpster. He wondered if maybe he could do something like that with his hammer.

"I know right. The guy called it 'The Lightning Bat,' I was gonna come up with a better name but it's kinda growing on me y'know?" He slipped the bat back into its holster. "So... show me what you got." He said rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"Well I mean it's nothing special, it's just something I put together outta spare parts." He said humbly, as he pulled the hammer off his back and presented it to his brother.

Ryan just stared at the metal contraption as if it was the strangest thing he had ever seen, which it honestly was, and looked from the weapon and back to his brother. "Uh… that's uh… t-that's cool man. Real… crafty." He said trying to sound supportive and failing miserably at it.

"Hey man, screw you ok! We can't all get lucky and find some tech savvy cosplayer with a bat that just so happens to work perfectly with our powers. I built this with my own two hands and it does it's job just fine, thank you very much." He said defensively, glaring daggers at his brother.

Raising his hands in surrender, Ryan said, "Alright ok, calm down. It's not that bad I guess. So does it always look like that or does it light up when you put in the batteries." He joked and laughed out loud, prompting his brother to demonstrate what his hammer could do by channeling his fire and slamming the flaming hammer into the ground and tossing Ryan off his feet.

"Woah shit!" Ryan exclaimed and flipped his body around in mid air so that he could land on his feet. "Ok that's pretty cool, not gonna lie. But it's not as cool as this." He said and pointed his bat at the dumpster from earlier, a line of lightning shot from the conductor and tethered onto the dumpster. Ryan made a swinging motion and the dumpster flew into the air towards Xander. He retaliated by knocking the dumpster back to the ground and banging his hammer into the ground, sending the dumpster flying back to its sender who just dove forward out of the way.

"So we really doing this? It's been awhile since we spared, this might actually be good practice." Ryan propositioned to his brother.

"I guess we are little brother. Same rules as usual, first one to fold loses." Xander said as he took a battle stance.

"You're barely older than me." Ryan argued, assuming his own stance.

"Still counts." Xander deadpanned.

They sized each other up for a moment before charging at one another. Electricity arched off of Ryan's bat as he charged, while a trail of fire flowed from Xander's hammer. They met in the middle of the lot and Ryan swung for Xander's midsection, but he slid on his knees, leaning back as far as possible and avoided the hit by inches. They spun back to face each other before Ryan swung his bat forward and shot a bolt at Xander, the loud cracking noise echoing off the walls of the building. Xander blocked the attack with his hammer and Smoke Dashed forward, shoulder checking Ryan in the chest and sent him rolling on the ground.

"Nice hit." Ryan praised him as he got back to his feet.

"Thanks." Xander said, twirling his hammer.

"Now it's my turn." Ryan said, throwing a Lightning Hook at Xander's ankle and yanking him toward him. He charged up his fists as Xander flailed through the air, and when he was close enough he hit him with a powerful electrified haymaker in the chest and Xander flew back, losing his grip on his hammer, and bounced across the ground. "Oooh, that's gotta sting." Ryan taunted as his brother stood back to his feet.

Xander held a glowing hand out and his hammer flew back to him and he hooked it onto his back. "Ok, that's how you wanna play it?" Xander said then proceeded to shoot fireballs at his brother in quick succession, nailing him in the chest before he managed to roll out of the way and take cover behind a car. He returned fire with sporadic Alpha Bolts before hopping onto the roof of the car and Car Jumping into the air, shooting a Megawatt Hammer down at Xander who shot a Cinder Missile at the same time. The two attacks collided with each other and exploded in a giant blast of lightning and fire that lit up the parking lot.

Ryan was knocked back but quickly righted himself in the air with his Static Thrusters. He looked down below and Xander was nowhere to be found. He let out a Radar Pulse to see if he could sense his bio-electrical signature and he did, but it seemed that he was right behind him. 'Oh crap' Ryan thought before he was knocked to the ground with a charged Fire Blast from behind. Xander had teleported behind him in mid air during the explosion.

"Oh that is so not fair!" Ryan shouted out, getting back to his feet. He Lightning Tethered onto a roof and fired more Megawatt Hammers at Xander who Smoke Dashed out of the way. Ryan tethered to another roof and continued firing, trying to keep moving so that Xander couldn't land a hit on him. However, the rapid use of the heavy attack was quickly draining his energy. He needed to recharge soon if he wanted to keep fighting.

Xander dashed into a vent on the wall of a building and came out on top and continued to fire at his brother with Cinder Missiles, missing him by only a few inches as he dived and rolled out of the way. He drained the smoke from a rooftop vent and replenished his Smoke and Fire abilities. While he was distracted, a Scythe Bolt slammed into his back, sending a surge of electricity through his body and making his muscles spasm painfully. A steady stream of lightning bolts collided with his body making him spasm and yell in pain as the electricity assaulted his nervous system. The assault ended and he dropped to a knee, smoke circling his body as his fast healing powers tried to repair the damage done. He looked across the roof to see Ryan draining the power from a transformer on the roof and he used that distraction as a chance to slip away into hiding, suppressing the electricity in his body so that Ryan couldn't find him with a Radar Pulse.

Ryan sighed in relief at having fully charged up with the power from the transformer. He looked to the spot that Xander was last at and furrowed his brow at realizing that he was no longer there. He tried to find him with another Radar Pulse but he couldn't sense him. 'He's trying to play hide and seek, huh? Ok, I can do that.' He put his hands to the ground and a ring of electricity expanded across the ground causing any metallic objects not nailed down to float into the air, he laughed in success at seeing Xander floating off the ground, swiping at the air trying to stay hidden. The metal hammer on his back is what allowed Ryan to lift him up. Ryan dropped the magnetic field and rushed over to where Xander had dropped to, behind a maintenance door that led to the roof for people inside.

Xander waited for him to around before he spear tackled him off the roof, planting flaming fists into his face as they plummeted to the ground. Xander used Ryan as a platform and jumped off of his chest and into the air, shooting a Cinder Missile down at him.

Ryan wheezed in pain as the air was driven from his lungs on impact with the ground and once again when Xander dropped his flaming fist into his gut with a Comet Drop. Xander stood to his feet as Ryan gasped for air on the ground, pounding on his own chest as if that would force the air back in.

"Had enough?" Xander asked with deep breaths. That was an intense fight, and he'd be lying if he said that he wasn't a little winded.

Ryan wheezed for a few more seconds before he said, "Yea… yea I'm cool." He said, grasping Xander's outstretched hand and hauling himself to his feet. "Admit it though, I almost had you." He said with a smug grin.

"Only cause I got distracted. I matched you pound for pound the whole way, it was only a matter of time before I won." Xander said matter of factly with a side a cockiness.

Ryan chuckled in response, amused by the competitive side of his brother. "If you say so, but don't forget who normally wins these things. You might have two powers but mine is way more developed than both of yours." He patted his brother on his back and made his way toward the wall of the building they just feel from and began to scale it. He effortlessly heaved his body into the air and latched onto each windowsill, pipe and ledge on the way up, performing an acrobatic twist as he reached the top

"You try figuring out two powers at the same time. I'm just glad I don't have to drain a specific source just to switch between them, that'd just be annoying." Xander climbed the building after Ryan, kicking off the wall repeatedly and grabbing onto the next hand hold at the height of each jump. He could have climbed the wall in the same flashy style as Ryan but that wasn't his way, plus Ryan's way actually took slightly longer. He leapt up over the edge of the roof with his last jump and landed on the top.

"Too true, that's like some shitty handicap given to a character in some video game because they're 'overpowered' lame." He scoffed.

"Right." Xander agreed. He took out his phone and checked the time, seeing that it was 1:00 in the morning. "It's getting late, I'm sure all the bad guys are asleep by now. We should prolly do the same."

Ryan yawned at the thought of resting and nodded in agreement. The two then took off toward home, where they got some rest before they had to wake up for school in a few hours.


End file.
